Slight rise in mortgage approvals

THE number of mortgages approved for house purchase rose in November for the first time since April, new figures have revealed.

Published 14th January 2011

The number of mortgages approved for house purchase rose in November

Around 48,019 loans were approved for people buying a property during the month, up from 47,315 in October, according to the Bank of England.

The modest increase ends six consecutive months during which approvals for house purchase had declined, although the figure still remains well down on the 70,000 to 80,000 approvals a month which are considered to be consistent with a stable housing market.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "While the Bank of England data show that mortgage approvals edged up in November, they remained at a very weak level and the modest increase does little to dilute our belief that house prices will remain under downward pressure in the early months of 2011 at least.

"What it does suggest is that house prices are more likely to trend modestly downward rather than crash."

The figures also showed an increase in the number of loans approved for people remortgaging, with these rising for the fifth consecutive month to 34,262, as competitive deals for homeowners with large equity stakes in their property continued to tempt people off their lenders' standard variable rates.

But net mortgage lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments, fell sharply during the month to £788 million, down from £1.17 billion in October.

Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: "With mortgage approvals rising for the first time in seven months and net mortgage lending slightly above the six-month average, this release does at least provide some better news than in recent months.

"However, when you look at the bigger picture it is difficult to come to any conclusion other than that the housing market outlook remains very weak."